One Lucky Girl

hot hot hot

Wow. What a hot Sunday. Temperature in the 100s today. Crazy. Even crazier because I baked a Blueberry Pie and some turkey meatloaf. My house feels like an oven now. While in the kitchen I decided I should cook lunches and dinners for a week so I did. I make bunch of chicken recipes today to last us a week. I have to make some rice but that is easy. I might as well make some brownies too tonight. What the heck. Might as well right?

We went grocery to Walmart and Sams today. Bought some chicken and lots of fruits. They should last us at least a week. I still have some ground chicken I don’t know what to make with it. My mind is blank with ideas. Ah. Thai ground chicken with lettuce wrap!!  I should make them. They are extremely easy to make so I will make them for tonight. I happen to have some left over lettuces.

I was going to make some chicken potstickers but my wraps are in the freezer and I don’t feel like waiting on them thawing.

You know, I have been longing to make my own chicken egg rolls. I used to make them a lot. They are so good. I might make a bunch of them this weekend. Also my own chicken dumplings. Yum.

Today is father’s day. In my home country, we don’t celebrate father’s day today so I don’t have to call my dad to tell him happy father’s day. For my husband, I guess all those cookings are for him :P


Posted in dinner, family, food

today’s rambling

I am excited for tomorrow to come. First my husband will be coming home tomorrow evening. Second, Apologetic class is also tomorrow evening (which will end about 2 hours before my husband flight arrives). So tomorrow will be a super exciting day for me. Plus, Wednesday marks the middle of the workday.

I plan to cook some meals tonight. I am in the mood for some porridge. So I am going to make a batch of that. I’ll probably cook something else to last till the end of the week. I am thinking of making Pinneapple Upside down cake for my husband!!

I am running low on money. Good thing payday is this Friday. And I think this payday I am going to pad the saving account with our local bank to $500. Just in case. The Emigrant Direct account has $3508 now. My goal is to make our saving account with local bank goes up to $2000 by the end of November. That way we’ll have $5000 in both saving accounts for just in case. This should be doable. I hate the feeling when we are running low on money in the bank.

Today was another boring day at work. There were not much to do around this time of the year. I had dentist appointment at 3 today so I left work earlier than usual. The dentist took almost 2.5 hours long. But this should be the last long treatment. They had to numb my mouth so now the whole mouth feels weird. I really am hungry and I want to eat but I can’t feel anything so I’d have to wait I guess. The next appointment in two weeks is just for consultation/follow up so should not take that long.

Today was so nice outside. I took a little walk to the bank to deposit some money. What a beautiful day it was. The temperature was so nice. Mid 70s with a little breeze. Just perfect.

I had so much time to pray again at work today. Every hour, I’d say prayers on my desk. I didn’t do it loudly of course. Just to myself. No one had to know I was praying. It’s a personal thing.

Ok. I better get cooking now. It is amost 7 and I am starving already!!


Labor day

(Monday)

Labor day!!!!!

Well. We didn’t do anything special for Labor day this year. My husband had to work today. I had a day off. So that kinda stinks.I went to see a movie with my little sister.  We watched Walle. It was good I suppose. We had lunch at Burger King before going to the movie. And after the movie we got some milk shakes from Steak and Shake. All and all, it was fun.

I did laundry this morning. So tiring.

I cooked dinner in the evening. I made myself some soy-crumble stir fry with snow peas. I fried one egg. I ate them with steamed rice. It was good. Simple and filling. I am having the same thing for my lunch tomorrow. Lunch. Work. Uggh. I hate going to work at my office sometimes. Oh well. I guess I have to earn money somehow.

I made my husband ground beef stir fry with snow peas. He ate it with steam rice. He said it was good. I didn’t really taste it so I went with my gut when seasoning it. I also made my husband little burgers to eat with salads. I seasoned them so I hope they taste pretty tasty. If not, my husband can always drizzle some hot sauce on them.

I am tired. It is almost 9.30 and I want to sleep soon. My husband is watching Prison Break. It’s the season premiere I think. He is a big fan of the TV show.

Tomorrow will be Tuesday already. We’ll only have 4 working days this week. Woohoo. And the weather men said Hurricane Hanna is coming our way so I am hoping we get some days off. I am so lazy this year I don’t know why. I have so much in my mind I guess. I don’t know. I am going to bed now.


window shopping

The internet at home was not working for 2 evenings. It was a bummer but we survived.

I am excited that this is a long weekend. We have Labor Day on Monday so no work for me. Wooohoo. I get to spend an extra day with my husband.

One of our neighbors is having an estate sale. I bought a huge beautiful Venetian mirror for $160. It’s huge. And very, very pretty. I plan on displaying it in the entrance hallway. Today we went to the estate sale again and wanted to get a lovely vintage sofa but we decided to wait tomorrow morning when they open at 8 to see if it’s still there. They will be offering 50% off tomorrow.

Today my husband and I had dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. It was pleasant as always. After that we went to Ross. Then we went to the mall to return something at Belk. We ended our trip  by going to Babies R Us. We just looked around. I saw the baby bedroom set that I like. I sure hope to purchase them one day. We both were surprised by the price of some of those things they sell. Well, I guess this is why we need to start saving agressively!!!

Now I am at home. Relaxing. I am getting tired and ready for bed. I bought a beatiful bedding set at Ross. It was only $24.99. Can you believe it??? I love it. I’ll wash them tomorrow so I can use it for the weekend.

Ok. Time to sleep.


weekend update!!

Aug 25
1 Comment
The weekend turned out to be a busy one for us.
I did a lot of shopping.
In the morning, we went to the antique shop to get a dresser I wanted ($89). Then I saw a small cabinet that would fit perfectly in our bathroom ($149). While we were shopping, my husband spotted another dresser (for him) on sale for $79. So we decided to buy all those 3 items. The dresser I bought for me we put in the master bedroom and the other dresser for my husband we put in the baby/guest room. He is going to need to share that dresser with the baby one day but I am sure it’s ok since he does not have many clothes anyway.
I decided to go clothes shopping in the afternoon with my husband. We went to Marshall’s. I bought all kinds of clothes that were majority on sale ($7 – 10 each). Ipurchased about 10 new clothes (tops, dresses, pants), some underwears, and several kitchen items. I was shopping when my husband’s grandma called. She asked my husband to get her several items for her apartment. After shopping, we went to grandma’s house. She made me some fish and steaks for my husband for dinner. It was good. My husband then took her to Walmart to get the stuff she needed while I stayed in her apartment watching TV.
Sunday morning we went to churh in the morning. Then we had lunch at a pizza place. I decided that I wanted to get a new bedding set from Belk (their Biltmore collection – Angelica set). So I bought the whole set. It was pricey but I absolutely love it and it goes well with the décor of the house so I am going to use that for a long long time. I also bought a pair of black satin shoes that day. It was on sale. I got it for $35 (Nine West). After that we went grocery shopping.
I cooked dinner that evening. I was pretty pooped out when I was done with everything.
Next weekend I am going to take it easy. I know I need to take Melissa somewhere but I think I am just going to take her see a movie on a Saturday morning. I have no plans on going shopping next weekend. Might need to get some rugs for the master bedroom actually. I plan on finishing decorating the master bedroom before the end of the year.

just another tuesday night

I just ate dinner. My husband is riding his bike again tonight. I told him to be careful because it looks like it might rain soon. Tropical storm Fay is coming our way now—it’s going to be come category 1 hurricane they said.

I am at home enjoying my quiet evening. I cooked dinner for my husband. I made him Mushroom Beef with 3 different sides: corn, steamed green beans, and garlic roasted potatoes. I had left over from last night (which is still enough for one more lunch and dinner for me). I don’t know what we will be eating tomorrow evening. I have a pound of ground beef and about 2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts for my husband. I have been wanting to make a white bean and tuna salad for myself so I might make that tomorrow evening for my dinner. As for my husband, I need to make him something light. Maybe he wants to eat Grilled Chicken salad.

Found a dog. He was hanging out in my front porch.

I called my animal rescue club and we’ll be taking the dog to the vet tomorrow morning. Someone is going to pick him up from my house. We have to keep the dog in a crate in the back porch since we have 6 dogs in our house right now. The dog is in a bad condition. His long furs are all matted. It looks like he has a skin problem. Poor puppy. He is a medium-sized dog. Anyways. I am sure he will find a new home soon.

~~

I am tired.

I did make a cake tonight. Pineapple cake. It’s supposed to have coconut flakes in it but I don’t have any. The cake is done. I cannot wait to taste it. I am going to bring a big slice to work tomorrow to eat as dessert. Yum.

Ok time to rest.


Julia Child and cooking

I watched Julia Child cooking the first time almost 8 years ago on Food Network TV. She was a guest chef for one of the TV shows. Growing up outside the country, I didn’t get to watch her original TV shows (well, it was released long time ago anyways).

Today, I have the chance to watch one of her DVD’s. It’s black and white. So clearly, it’s got quite old shows. I own and have read Julia Child’s cooking books before so I was quite excited prior to watching the DVD. The first recipe she made was French Crepes, which I happen to love. To my surprise, she used so much butter, sugar, and liquors for the recipe. Butter for the crepes batter, butter for the almond butter spread, butter for when you’re baking the crepes in the oven, and more butter to bath the crepes in right before you eat them. Oh and she also drenched the crepes in liquors. Oh my. I think I had a heart attack just watching her making the crepes. Don’t get me wrong I think Julia Child is a very good cook and chef but that one particular crepes recipe sounds too outdated. I make my own crepes and I use way less butter and sugar than her recipe. And since I don’t drink (alcoholic beverages), I tend to avoid use of any liquors in my recipes. Anyway. I am sure her crepes would taste good but I doubt I would make her recipe though.

I have to admit that I learned valuable new cooking tips and tricks from Julia Child.

Though I love Martha Stewart dearly, I cannot stop to wonder what our future generations would think of Martha Stewart’s cookings….


healthy eating

My husband and I have been trying to eat super healthy lately–lots of fresh veggies and fruits in our diet. In general, we eat pretty healthy. I cook at home a lot so we eat home cooking most of the times. We bring lunch from home.

I feel responsible for what we eat. My husband pretty much will eat anything I cook for him but I don’t want to just cook him something unhealthy. So I started serving salads more often. We also eat more fresh fruits.

Tonight my husband had Cobb salad and I had my super duper yummy salad–yellow corn (canned), spring mix salad (premixed; in a bag), tomatoes, cucumber, boiled egg, tuna (canned), cubed white cheddar cheese, and i topped it with caesar salad dressing. It was gooooood!!!! I especially love the yellow corn. I can eat a big bowl of those corn alone!!!!

For dessert, we had fresh papaya. I bought a medium size papaya 2 night ago from the grocery. It was good. My husband didn’t grow up eating tropical fruits so he was excited eating the papaya. He thought it was good.

For lunch, I packed us salad for lunch (same as what we had tonight) and some cut watermelon for dessert. I also packed myself some trail mix for snacking.

Tomorrow evening for dinner, I am going to make some Shrimp, corn, cucumber, and avocado salad. Mmm mmm good.


weekend update

It’s been a fairly great weekend for my husband and I.

Friday evening we didn’t do much. We decided to wind down at home; relaxing with the dogs. It was the Olympic opening ceremony night. I  made Shrimp Boil. I used a pound of shrimp; 4 corn ears; about 2 lbs of red potatoes; and 1 onion. Mixed everything together with the seasonings (premade; I bought it from the grocery store). It was good. My husband loved it. We ate it while watching the opening ceremony on TV. My husband loves sport so he is so excited that the Olympic in Beijing, China is started. We enjoyed the opening ceremony so much. I thought it was spectacular.

Saturday morning I took my little sister (from Big Brothers Big Sisters) to get her school supplies and we also went to the library. I came home around 1PM. I made Pumpkin cookies–I know it is Summer but I am craving for some pumpkin cookies. Saturday evening, around 8, we went to a friend’s graduation party. He finished his Phd in education. It was a fun celebration. The foods were great and we met so many new people from the neighborhood. We came home at 11PM. I was so tired by the time we get home. But my husband was so excited about the Olympic he decided to watch the game himself. I don’t know what time he actually went to bed but I think it was late.

Sunday morning, we went to the 10AM mass in our church downtown. Mass was good. I lit a candle and say prayers for my husband’s aunt (who just diagnosed with a colon tumor, galbladder stone, and uterus tumor), a coworker who has been trying to sell his house for 2 years, my husband, my husband’s grandma, and me. Well, of course I prayed for my families and my husband’s families as well in general.

The morning mass was a bit special today because we had a visiting priest. He is from a country in Africa. He travels around the world and he is trying to raise money for the missionaries in Mexico. I literally emptied out my wallet (it stinks that I only had about $8–some in coins– in my wallet) to donate my money for his missionaries.

After church we went to have lunch at a Vietnamesse noodles restaurant. It was good. As always. I had the shrimp pho. We also ordered the Vietnamesse summer rolls. Good stuff. I left with full belly.

We wanted to visit my husband’s grandma so we headed off to her house right after lunch. Initially we intended to stay for a couple of hours. But then something happened. Grandma served us her homemade soymilk that I enjoyed so much. My husband, all of the sudden, had some kind of allergic reaction to it. It turned out grandma put cashews in the soymilk. My husband is allergic to nuts. He started feeling unwell. He tried to make himself puke but he couldn’t. He was in the bathroom for a looooong time!!! Grandma tried to help but after 2 hours trying I said ok let’s go to an urgent care clinic. So off we went. My husband was given some kind of shot. The whole time he was having a serious pain in his stomach. The clinic people thought it was unusual. Anyways. After the shot, the pain didn’t subside. It got worse. They decided to wait and finally the pain subsided. They sent us home after my husband felt better.

On the way home, I decided to get a car wash (you know the express car wash!!). Well, I don’t know what it was but that stupid thing stopped working when it was supposed to sprinkle some clean water and dry my car. I sent my husband to ask the attendant. He gave us a new ticket for free. We got back in line. We saw one car went in and the machine did just what it was supposed to do to the car so we thought ok great it is fixed. Off we went inside the machine thingy again. Right before the machine was supposed to spray fresh water to our car, the machine stopped again!!!!!!!!!!! Ugghhh. We waited and waited and waited. I talked to the attendant and he gave me a refund. I had to stop and hand dried my car!!!!!!!!! Bummer.

Sunday evening, my husband had left over Shrimp boil. I grilled him skirt steak and diced potatoes for lunch. I also packed him some salad. I made myself some caesar salad for lunch. For dinner, I ate leftover pasta in clam sauce and I topped it with fried eggs. It was good actually. Well, at least my husband is feeling better now. I am glad. He is watching the Olympic again. It is past 10PM already. I need to get ready to go to bed. Tomorrow is a brand new day. Can’t really say I am looking forward to it. I don’t care much about my work day. I am looking forward to coming home to my dogs and my husband tomorrow!!!!!!


savannah day 2 and 3

We finished day 2 in Savannah with great success. We started the day with a sweet visit to Back in the Day Bakery (www.backinthedaybakery.com). Tell me what a better way to start your day than having a cupcake as breakfast? I had a Vanilla cupcake with pink icing (it’s basically vanilla on vanilla). My husband got the blue one. We sat on our little table next to the window. I loved every moment I spent in that place. I savored every bite of that cute little cupcake. I even had the courage to order 3 more!!!!!!! to-go of course. I had the chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing, coconut-lemon cupcake, and another traditional vanilla on vanilla cupcake. I left that place happy!!!

We then head off to downtown. The intention was to have small lunch at Paula Deen’s restaurant The Lady and Sons (www.ladyandsons.com) . I saw the menu online the night before and I already knew what I wanted–crabcake. That was it. I love crabcakes so every time I go to a restaurant that serves crabcakes, I always try one. Anyways. After several rounds trying to find a parking spot, we finally parked somewhere and walked to the restaurant. We saw a line–wasn’t that long. But it never moved. So I said to my husband, let me go to the gift shop (there is a gift shop next to Paula Deen’s restaurant–it’s owned by Paula). I was at the store for about 5 mins when my husband came up to me and said, we can’t lunch at the restaurant. I asked why. He said because we didn’t have a reservation. Ah what a bummer. We left the place.

I decided to visit a kitchen store called Kitchen on the Square. It is located not too far from Paula’s restaurant. I bought all sorts of cookie cutters, pie weigh, and some scoopers. I really took my time at the store. I just loved it.

Well, by the time I finished shopping, we felt kinda hungry. So we decided to eat at a small restaurant called Zunzi’s (http://www.zunzis.com/). We’ve always gone there everytime we visit Savannah. They have vegetarian-friendly menus. I orderd my favorite Portabello Mushroom’s sub (served on a baguette). Oh it is sooooo yummmyyy!!!! And it is HUGE!!!! My husband had the Beef Curry served on white rice. We both ordered African sweet tea (one of the owners is from South Africa). It was the perfect lunch. Affordable and very very good for your tummy.

After that great lunch, we decided to do some window shopping. We walked around downtown Savannah (Broughton street). I bought an antique gilded  mirror ($60); bought two lottery tickets ($2); bought one supersize + super cute ring ($32); and bought 2 vintage wire caddies–different sizes and style ($21 and $10). I saw some cute clothes but they were too expensive so I didn’t buy them.

We also went window shopping on Whitaker street. We visited so many great furniture shops on that street. I found a cute little boutique called Custard (www.custard.com) that sells chic clothes mostly for under $100. The owner showed me a rack that filled with 40% off clothes. I found several pieces I loved and decided to buy 3 of them ($182).

It was already past 5 when we finished shopping. We deciced to go back to our hotel to walk our dogs. We spent few hours with the dogs before we headed back to downtown (River street) area to grab dinner. That evening we went to have dinner at Tubby’s Tank House (www.tubbystankhouse.com) on River street. The lines was long so we had to wait about 45 minutes. We walked along the River street to kill time. I bought some sweet goodies at The Peanut Shop (www.thepeanutshop). We visited many other shops as well. There were so many local artists showing off their talents that night and we truly enjoyed that. We had a good time that evening!!!

We left Savannah the day after in the morning. Before we left, we grabbed some breakfast. I ordered a to-go breakfast from the Firefly cafe (www.fireflycafega.com) –spinach and crab omelette and strawberry+banana smoothie. Breakfast was good but a bit pricey. My husband had some Gyro at a Greek restaurant on River Street. It was good–and affordable– he said.

While we were driving, we passed a Dog park!!! We decided to stop by. The dog park (www.savannahdogpark.com) is not a public dog park so you would actually have to have a membership but since we were visiting, they let us stay. The dogs loved it. They were running around–happy. We stayed there about an hour and a half. We continued our trip to the Forsyth park. We put the dogs on their leash and we walked around the park with them. Fun!!!!!!!! They enjoyed meeting new people. They sniffed and wagged their tails to everyone they met.

When we left Savannah, we felt so tired but very happy indeed. Our dogs were too tired to do anything else but sleep in the car. What a fun weekend we had. I enjoyed this trip as much as my other trips to this city. Savannah will always be in my heart.

I cannot wait to go back there again in the fall….


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